New uniforms, new manager and a new season for the Vermont Lake Monsters.

With a redesigned look and former Major League Baseball player David Newhan taking over from the longest-tenured manager in team history, the Lake Monsters, the short-season Single A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, have arrived for another summer in Burlington.

The 2014 Lake Monsters held their first workout Wednesday evening after meeting with local media at Centennial Field, home to Vermont's minor-league baseball team for the 21st season.

Vermont opens its 76-game season in the New-York Penn League on Friday night at Lowell for a three-game series before returning to Centennial on Monday evening for the start of a week-long homestand.

"We are all excited to be here and get back to playing games. We've all been down in Arizona the past three months, working really hard and trying to develop our games," said pitcher Jerad Grundy, a 2013 Lake Monster. "It feels good to get back here and get on a real pro schedule."

Including Grundy, a dozen players have played for Vermont in past seasons — 10 from 2013; two from 2012. Rick Magnante, after three seasons at the helm of the Lake Monsters, was promoted to steer the Beloit Snappers of the Midwest League.

Magnante's departure opened the door to Newhan, a first-time manager who played eight seasons in the big leagues and is well-known to Boston Red Sox fans for hitting an inside-the-park home run off Pedro Martinez in 2004.

A Southern California native, Newhan was a 17th round draft pick of the Athletics in 1995 and played for five MLB clubs before retiring in 2008.

Newhan's roundtripper against Boston, when he was a member of the Baltimore Orioles, produced a fond memory of Manny Ramirez, who dove to snag Johnny Damon's cutoff throw as only Manny could.

"It was something that will always be in Red Sox lore and baseball lore — hopefully I can progress in the managerial career and I'm remembered for a lot more," Newhan said.

Newhan is also son of longtime Los Angeles Times baseball writer Ross Newhan, the 2000 Spink Award winner from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

From being around the game as a youngster, tagging along with his dad, to playing multiple positions throughout his career, Newhan said he's been preparing for a manager's gig for a long time.

"I've seen the game for a long time from a professional standpoint and I played the game for a long time," Newhan said. "I think I have a lot to offer and hopefully I can do a great job of relaying that information (to the players)."

For the second straight summer, longtime radio broadcaster George Commo will serve as the Lake Monsters' play-by-play voice on WEAV-AM 960, which will broadcast all 38 home games and a dozen road contests. The station will also air the first 20 games of the season — 13 home, seven road — a stretch that goes through July 2.

Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabramif@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aabrami5